The HazWx project is one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve ever had the honor of being a part of, the feeling of building something great from the ground up with a small dedicated, passionate team was unlike any other.

Tonight KOCO ran a story about a perceived very real false alarm by Oklahoma City’s emergency management this morning. Just after 6:15am, the city activated their Whelen outdoor warning siren network, yet for a weak storm that had itself already moved through the area hours earlier.

Well it’s barely April and already my hometown has been hit by a tornado. Maybe we’ve gotten it out of the way… But at any rate it’s a reminder that it’s time for my semi-annual collection of weather-related apps I’m using today.

It’s once again Severe Storm Season, and this year I’ve made several changes that will directly or indirectly require me to adjust the weather apps, software, and services I use to stay alive, safe, and at all times chasing storms (rather than being chased). Here’s the apps and sites I use the most.

Today’s high risk of tornadoes is 3x higher than a few weeks ago when strong violent tornadoes affected the Dallas metro area. The potential for life-threatening situation is enhanced by the timing of arrival: these supercells will likely affect the central Oklahoma area after dark on Saturday night. As last night, these will remain dangerous well into the midnight hours when many people are sleeping. The 5:00am Hazardous Weather Outlook from the Norman NWS Office reads: Probability of storms occurring…

During each severe weather season (and throughout the year) I almost always have Gibson Ridge software’s GRLevel3 app running. On the road it’s tethered to my Sprint network data connection — so far the best data service I’ve had in rural Tornado Valley.

Dear everyone pointing at funnels in Oklahoma today: it’s not a tornado. This upper level low system might be creating some interesting and scary looking clouds, but they pose no threat because they aren’t powered by a supercell thunderstorm above them. So please enjoy the intriguing motions and stay weather aware, because some of these storms are producing some hail — just not tornadoes today.